The family of another inmate who died at regional jail files a lawsuit

By Scott Daugherty |The Virginian-Pilot| Feb. 25, 2020|A1

It was obvious the Hampton Roads Regional Jail inmate was in severe and constant pain, other inmates would later say.

But the jail’s correctional officers and medical staff did nothing last year to help 62-year-old Victor Rhea Fountain before his death, according to a new lawsuit.

When one officer spotted Fountain curled up in the fetal position, he simply shrugged and moved on to the next cell, the suit says.

Fountain’s estate sued the beleaguered jail earlier this month, as well as its medical provider and several employees. It seeks $16.85 million in damages.

Officials with the jail and Wellpath declined to comment on the lawsuit and the now-familiar allegations of medical neglect it contains, as did Mark Krudys, an attorney for the estates of Fountain and several other inmates who have died in the facility.

The regional jail — established in 1998 to take inmates from Norfolk, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News and later Chesapeake — has been buffeted by controversy in recent years following a series of high-profile inmate deaths.

The U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the jail following the Aug. 19, 2015, death of 24-year-old Jamycheal Mitchell. It eventually concluded in December 2018 that staff was violating the constitutional rights of inmates.

At least 22 inmates have died at the regional jail since 2015, leading at least seven families now to pursue wrongful death lawsuits in state and federal court.

Most of the lawsuits were filed by Krudys. And most paint similar pictures of the jail, in which inmates complained to staff about various medical problems only to see their pleas for help fall on deaf ears.

Three of those lawsuits have been settled, leading the jail, its medical provider and the state to pay out more than $4.5 million.

According to the latest lawsuit, Fountain died Feb. 23, 2019, of a bowel obstruction.

That was 28 days after his arrest in Chesapeake on three counts of attempted malicious bodily injury of law enforcement officers and 10 days after his transfer from the Chesapeake City Jail.

Before his incarceration, Fountain had struggled with a series of complex medical problems including bipolar disorder, prostate cancer, skin cancer, hypertension and an enlarged prostate. He also underwent five surgeries in 2017 for metastatic pancreatic cancer.

The suit alleges the jail’s medical director, Dale Moreno, tasked a licensed practical nurse to examine Fountain before his death even though she “lacked the training and credentials to examine and diagnose him independently.”

While locked up in Chesapeake, Fountain repeatedly complained about his bowels, the suit said. And while meeting the regional jail nurse, Fountain apparently presented with a “dangerously low pulse and complaints of abdominal pain.” The nurse, however, failed to note he had previously undergone a small bowel resection or adjust his care, the suit said.

The nurse, Cheril Harris, wrote in Fountain’s file that she would “refer to MD,” but the lawsuit said there is no record he was ever examined by a doctor. The nurse also indicated Fountain’s abdomen was not tender to the touch — one day before he vomited a large amount of bile and died.

The jail’s medical staff not only failed to help Fountain, but actually continued to order him to take medication that was worsening his condition, the suit said.

Fountain was taking Milk of Magnesia before he was transferred to the regional jail. It was supposed to treat constipation.

According to the suit, the over-the-counter medication effectively causes diarrhea that Fountain could not relieve “normally” because of his bowel obstruction.

The suit said inmates repeatedly urged correctional officers to help Fountain to no avail. The inmates claimed a sergeant even stopped by at one point to check on Fountain.

They said the sergeant acknowledged Fountain didn’t look good and said he would call medical staff and request they take him to the hospital, according to the suit. No help came, though.

Fountain was dead about six hours later.

Scott Daugherty, 757-446-2131, scott.daugherty@

pilotonline.com